


Crash Test

by thatfragilecapricorn



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Spoilers for Ice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25925473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatfragilecapricorn/pseuds/thatfragilecapricorn
Summary: What if Mulder and Scully didn't trust each other at all in "Ice"?
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	1. Part 1

Scully paced outside of the storage closet door, where her, Hodge and Da Silva had locked Mulder in, after finding him with the latest dead body. She was tasked with convincing Mulder to put the worm in his ear, to counteract the one that may or may not already be there. Scully sighed internally: if Mulder had just let her inspect him, they wouldn’t be in this situation. But of course he didn’t trust her. 

Though to be fair, she wouldn’t either if she had a partner that was sent to spy on her. Scully didn’t tell him that she was still sending reports to Division Chief Blevins, but she was sure he knew. Even though they had worked together for a few months now, he still liked to withhold information about the cases they were on (never telling her the full story until absolutely necessary) and leave her behind when he went to investigate something. This occurred more times than she would like to admit and it annoyed her how easily he could see through her. But what Mulder didn’t know was that her reports had gotten less detailed the longer they worked together and because of this she was starting to get pushback from Blevins. Scully was uncertain where her loyalties lie but she couldn’t worry about that right now. What she was worried about was getting her and Mulder out of here in one piece, and how to do so if Mulder didn’t trust her?

Scully opened the door to the storage closet and Mulder squinted at her as the light turned on. She closed the door behind her.

“Is it just you?” he asked. He looked like a caged animal and didn’t seem like he would be easily convinced to put a worm in his ear.

She nodded. “Mulder…” she started, but didn’t finish the sentence and instead took a few steps to close the gap between them. She suddenly had an idea...

Scully didn’t actually think about it; she just pressed her lips against his and started kissing him. She was surprised at her own impulsiveness; she was used to weighing her options carefully, like sifting through sand for gold, but this time her subconscious (her id, perhaps?) propelled her forward into his arms.

Mulder didn’t push her away, instead wrapping his arms around her and deepening the kiss. Scully congratulated herself for her quick thinking and problem solving. See, she was cut out for this, thinking of Blevins’s latest criticism. She could be a spy. Scully brought her hands to his shoulders, caressing him, still trying to make it seem like her actions were all part of the natural progression of a kiss.

Scully didn’t want to acknowledge it but kissing Mulder was very enjoyable. His hands moved down, under the hem of her shirt, searing the bare skin of her lower back and inching higher. She considered backing out of the plan and just seeing this kiss to its conclusion but there was still a possibility that Mulder was infected. So Scully subtly moved her hands to the nape of his neck, playing with his hair. She hoped that Mulder couldn’t tell what she was doing but it was very hard to pay attention to her hands when he was kissing her so passionately. His tongue slipped between her lips and his hands traveled farther up her back. Scully pressed closer, so there was no space left between their bodies. His right hand moved to pop open one of the front buttons of her shirt. His fingers danced across her collarbone and Scully wondered what would happen if they moved just a little farther down.

Nonetheless, her hand dipped below his shirt collar so she could canvas more of his back. She pressed down to feel, but her touch must have been too strong because suddenly he pushed away, removing her hand from his neck. They were both panting, staring at each other while Mulder gripped her wrist in mid-air.

“What are you doing?” he asked angrily, though she could have sworn he was also hurt by the look she saw in his eyes.

“Nothing - I … I” she stuttered and trailed off, not sounding very convincing. She didn’t know what to say now that she had been caught. She was stupid to think he wouldn’t figure it out - he was a profiler for god’s sake!

“I underestimated you, Scully,” Mulder said after a few moments of silence.

He abruptly dropped her hand and stepped back, breaking all contact. But he continued to glare at her; his blown pupils making his eyes look black and predatory. The closet suddenly felt very hot, like all the air had been sucked out.

“Well?” he asked.

“Well what?” she responded, her voice low. She had trouble looking him in the eye.

“Am I infected?”

“No,” she whispered. She had managed to inspect enough of his back that she was sure he wasn’t. 

“Turn around,” he ordered.

She didn’t move, but finally glanced back at his face, trying to determine what was going to happen next.

He repeated himself: “I said, turn around.”

It didn’t seem like she had much of a choice. Scully slowly pivoted so her back was to Mulder. Her heart rate increased and she would be lying if she said it was just from fear. 

Mulder moved close enough that she could feel his breath by her ear. He pulled the collar of her shirt down so her neck and shoulders were exposed, but paused for a minute. Scully held her breath in anticipation.

When his hand finally cupped her neck, it felt like a brand. His fingers pressed into her skin, feeling for the worm across her upper back. Then suddenly she felt his lips on the side of her neck. One hand was still holding the collar of her shirt and the other was against her hip. Mulder started at her ear and trailed down to her shoulder. His stubble made her shiver; the combination of his rough cheek and soft lips creating goosebumps in their wake. Scully subconsciously leaned against him, once again her id taking over. Then she felt his teeth against her skin and she let out a gasp. Mulder pushed her out of his grasp, not hard but with enough force that she slightly stumbled forward. She pulled up her shirt and turned around to face him.

Mulder was smirking but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Turnabout’s fair play.”

Scully just stared at him, breathing heavy. What the hell just happened?

Mulder brushed past her. “Let’s go,” he stated on his way out of the closet.

Scully didn’t know what to think. Her half-baked idea worked but she couldn’t describe it as successful. Blevins was right: she wasn’t cut out for this. 

Scully lightly touched her shoulder where Mulder’s teeth had been and followed him out to talk to Hodge and Da Silva.


	2. Part 2

Scully sat next to Mulder on the plane ride home to DC, even though she preferred not to. She thought about asking the flight attendant if she could switch seats but didn’t want to make things worse between her and her partner. It hadn’t been that long since their encounter in the closet, the one that had ended abruptly once Mulder figured out that it was a ploy to determine if he was infected with the worm. Scully still felt a little guilty after remembering the look on his face once he discovered what she was up to. She realized she would have to work with Mulder for however long she was assigned as his partner (probably not much longer if Blevins’s offhand comments were any indication) and resigned herself to the awkwardness for the time being.  
Scully was getting herself settled, buckling her seatbelt and adjusting the tray table, when she felt a feather light touch on the side of her neck. She jumped a little and looked over. Mulder had traced his index finger in the same spot where his teeth had been just last night. There was now a red mark that Scully had tried (and failed) to cover with foundation.

“You’ll have to cover that up,” he stated indifferently, like he wasn’t the one responsible for its existence.

Scully just gaped at him, taken aback by his boldness.

“Yeah I know. Thanks for that, by the way,” she replied after a beat, pulling her shirt collar up more.

Mulder closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. “Like I said, turnabout’s fair play.”

Scully stared at him for another moment, watching his Adam’s apple bob with his slow breathing, before turning away. She was content with ignoring him for the rest of the trip.

\------------------------------

When she finally got home after the long flight from Alaska, Scully let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t realized how tense she was since the case started and she was glad to be back safe and sound. It was Friday night and she had the whole weekend to herself for once.

Scully spent the time catching up on chores, as she was way behind on laundry and dry cleaning. Her fridge was empty so she had to go grocery shopping. She purposefully didn’t think about work, but sometimes her mind drifted back to the last few days in Alaska until she distracted herself. That was easier said than done, as Scully had dinner at her parents’ house on Sunday and had to endure many questions about work and her new partner from her father.

Scully returned home from Sunday dinner around 9 pm and decided to get a headstart on her report before bed. When she was organizing her case file and notes, she noticed the red blinking light on her answering machine: it was a message from Blevins. He wanted to see her Monday afternoon to talk about her reports and her progress with the X-Files. Shit, she thought. She did not feel like dealing with this right now. Prior to the last case, Scully was secretly starting to enjoy working with Mulder but also didn’t want to put her career at the FBI in jeopardy by refusing to do what her boss wanted.

Scully was contemplating her next move when there was a knock at her door. She checked the time - almost 10 pm - and cautiously went to look through the peephole.

Once Scully saw who it was, she opened the door a fraction, not too keen on having the last person she wanted to see right now on her doorstep. She should be the last person he wanted to see, as well.

“Mulder, what are you doing here?” Scully asked. 

“Can I come in?” he asked. She didn’t know how to deny him entry so she opened the door wide enough so he could slip in. He closed the door behind him and took off his jacket. 

“Mulder, it’s late. This couldn’t wait until the morning?” Scully inquired, glancing at the clock. She was going to see him in less than twelve hours. What could be so urgent?

“No,” he replied and took a step towards her. “Can we talk? I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.”

Instead of answering, she gestured toward the couch, and he went to sit down. 

“Do you want anything to drink? Water, tea, beer?” she asked, trying to be polite.

“Beer works,” he said, settling in on her striped couch. She grabbed two bottles from the fridge and brought them over. She didn’t usually drink during the week but she figured she may need something harder than tea to get through this conversation.

“So…” she started, after taking a sip from her bottle. They were sitting at opposite ends of the sofa, but it still wasn’t enough space. Scully could smell his aftershave and it brought back memories from Alaska.

Mulder began, “I wanted to talk to you about your report.”

“My report?” she asked, confused. He never asked about her reports before.

He took another pull from his bottle. “I know you’re still sending them to Blevins. What do you put in them?”

She shifted nervously in her seat. “I write whatever happened during the case, Mulder.”

“Do you include everything?”

Scully felt like she was being cross-examined. “I include what’s relevant,” she mentioned vaguely. She wasn’t sure what his intention was with these questions and didn’t want to give him too much information.

“Well how do you decide what’s relevant? I mean, are you going to include what happened in Alaska?”

She raised her eyebrows at that. “What are you referring to?” she questioned.

Mulder gave her a look that said, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Of course she knew what he was alluding to but why was he asking her this now? Did he really expect her to describe that particular encounter to her boss? Maybe he really was crazy, like everyone said.

She decided to be evasive to see how he would react. “Do you want me to?” she asked.

Mulder angled his body towards her, moving a little closer: “Would you write that I’m here tonight?” 

Scully stood up from the couch, feeling uncomfortable. Of course, Mulder followed her. He was always so close. Sometimes she didn’t mind it, but now it was making her nervous. She turned to face him and he was right behind her, their chests almost touching. She tilted her head back to see him better. She could feel his breath on her lips. 

“What do you want from me?” Scully asked, almost whispering.

Mulder brought his hand up to her face and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. Scully couldn’t move; she certainly wasn’t expecting this. He traced a finger down the side of her neck, just like he did on the plane, but this time it made her shiver.

“I want to know what you’re thinking, Scully, and where you stand,” he answered. It seemed truthful but Scully wasn’t sure. She was curious to find out what he was going to do next.

“Well, then no,” she responded.

“No?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“No, this won’t go into my report.”

Mulder smiled and closed the half inch gap between them to kiss her. It was chaste compared to the kiss they shared back in Alaska. Scully couldn’t believe that this was happening again! Maybe they were infected with something else? Or exposed to some aphrodisiac? It was the only explanation she could come up with.

Mulder kissed her very gently, so very different from Scully’s approach. One of his hands went to cup the back of her head, smoothing her hair down. He stopped kissing her for a moment and then moved to nuzzle her neck.

“What about that? Will that go in?” he asked, after pausing for a second.

“No,” she let out in a breath. 

“Will you do something for me?” he asked, his lips still against her neck.

“What?” she asked somewhat dreamily. His other hand had found its way to the vee of her shirt and was stroking her skin along her clavicle but not going any lower.

“Let me review your report before you send it.”

It took Scully a minute to process his request. She pulled back from him an inch to try to look at his face, moving her hands to his chest.

“Review? What does that mean? Do you mean edit?”

Mulder placed both of his hands on her shoulders, looking directly at her. She never realized just how green his eyes were. 

He started talking: “Just think of it as a mutually beneficial endeavor. You tell them what they want to hear and you get to stay on the X-Files. I know you like this assignment, right? It has to be better than teaching at the academy, anyway. And I get to keep working without their interference or knowledge.”

“Mulder,” she started but he interrupted her by pressing his lips against hers again.

She pushed back more firmly this time, as realization began to dawn on her. “Are you trying to seduce me? So I’ll do what you want?”

Mulder took a steop back and smirked, a hard glint in his eyes that wasn’t there before. “Well, you would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” he stated snarkily.

Scully felt her blood pressure start to rise, mostly at Mulder but also at herself. How could she let herself get into this position? How could she even attempt to trust him?

“In case you hadn’t noticed, Agent Mulder, that was a life or death situation! I had to know if you were infected and it was the best I could come up with on the spot! I didn’t exactly plan for that to happen!” 

She realized she was yelling so she lowered her voice a little to ask, “Why didn’t you just ask me about the reports?”

Mulder crossed his arms in response: “Why didn’t you just ask to check my neck? Instead of throwing yourself at me?”

Scully sighed and rubbed between her eyes. “Because I thought you didn’t trust me. I was obviously right about that.” She gestured between the two of them, referring to the second time in a few days that they found themselves in this situation.

Mulder went to pick up his jacket from the coat rack. “You’re right, Scully. I don’t know if I can trust you. But the offer still stands.”

He opened the door and said, “See you at work tomorrow,” without turning around.

Once the door closed, Scully walked over to lock the deadbolt. She was suddenly exhausted and leaned back against the doorframe. From her vantage point, she could see her computer and the report she had just started. Scully also remembered the meeting scheduled with Blevins for tomorrow. She had a lot to think about.


End file.
